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Summary for Lesson 1
In today’s class we worked on building stories around one central moment or detail, thinking about pulling storylines from singular story ‘beats’. We did some metaphor work, playing around with imagery and language to create layered meaning, and the class thought of some great ideas for approaches to short stories. We dug into the ways in which story beats can build tension and move the plot forward and practiced different approaches to writing a scene. The class then came up with some amazing story ideas based upon a choice of three intriguing moments, such as a whispered secret, letting their imaginations come to life beautifully. Such incredible and creative work, everyone. Thank you for all your amazing energy and ideas today. Keep it up and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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Hi Beth,
Here is my HW. I really enjoyed the lesson.
Especially looking at beats!
Thanks,
Jasmine : D
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One early morning, Jim woke up as fresh as an apple. He did his daily routine, eating breakfast, doing homework and other stuff, when he heard his parents whispering to each other. So he decided to take a look. As he enters his parents’ room, his findings left him spellbound. His parents are spies! He quickly returned to his room hoping his parents did not see him enter.
All day long he thought about his parents. How did he not know about this until now. The next day at school his friends were all crowding around the Daily News was an unknown spy saving a family on a yacht which capsized. They ran across houses and dived for the endangered people and are now known as hero’s. On the way home he wondered who was this spy? After a few days, he finally plucked up courage to ask his parents about the spy. They had a long talk and at the end they concluded that his parents were the unknown spy. After a few decades Jim was taught to be a spy like his parents.
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A Lost Wallet
I was playing on the swing alone at lunch break,then that’s when I saw it.
A wallet.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>The wallet was pale pink and it had a coffee sticker.On the inside,there was a Starbucks lanyard and a £50 note.</p>
“Should I keep it?”I whispered to myself quietly.Eventually I just simply went to Starbucks to order a cappuccino.Wait,that was it! The wallet might have belonged to one of the kind workers at Starbucks! I scanned the coffee shop with my eyes peeled.Hmmm…not anything yet.
Suddenly I spotted Caroline, a woman who makes the coffee,frantically checking her packets.
I quickly ran to the counter and said, “Hey,is this yours by any chance?”
Caroline turned towards me, smiled and took the wallet.
A smile.Something a £50 note can’t even buy, it’s free.
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A Lost Wallet
I was playing on the swing alone at lunch break,then that’s when I saw it.
A wallet.
The wallet was pale pink and it had a coffee sticker.On the inside,there was a Starbucks lanyard and a £50 note.
“Should I keep it?”I whispered to myself quietly.Eventually I just simply went to Starbucks to order a cappuccino.
Wait,that was it! The wallet might have belonged to one of the kind workers at Starbucks! I scanned the coffee shop with my eyes peeled.Hmmm…not anything yet.
Suddenly I spotted Caroline, a woman who makes the coffee,frantically checking her packets.
I quickly ran to the counter and said, “Hey,is this yours by any chance?”
Caroline turned towards me, smiled and took the wallet.
A smile.Something a £50 note can’t even buy, it’s free.
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I woke up at 6 AM this morning because I had a meeting at my office. I quickly ate my breakfast and headed out. I locked the door behind me, and when I returned, everything seemed just as I had left it—nothing appeared to be disturbed in the room. However, the most important item I noticed missing was my wallet, which contained all my money. Before I left, I had placed my wallet on the table in my room, and upon my return, the table was still in the same place, but the wallet was gone. The person who took my wallet might not realize that I have CCTV in my room.
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Summary for Lesson 2
In today’s class we thought about inspiring a story through an inciting incident, focusing on one object that can contain symbolic meaning. We discussed story starters and examples of impactful inciting incidents, such as Harry Potter finding out he is a wizard, and then brainstormed creating stories from a handful of objects. We spoke about symbolism and how to use it and the class put their heads together in thinking through what makes for an opening moment that intrigues a reader. Well done everyone, great ideas today. Keep it up and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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One early morning, Bob’s Mum and Dad died in a car crash. There is only one way to get his parents life back. It is to get the chaos diamond and revive them, however it is not that easy. First you have to find where it is hidden, then you have to fight a mythical beast called Groudon. Bob took years preparing for this day where he would find the diamond and defeat the beast. As he was leaving, the house he found a slip of paper hanging on the side of the door. He yanked it out and it was a map to the diamond! He then thought to himself, what a lucky day it is! After a long time, he reached a huge gate and he decided to have a nap. After a hours, he was woken up by a roar. Was it the roar of the beast? He slid his sword out of its case and went through the gates. As soon as he saw the beast, he started fighting it. The battle was intense. At the end he place the final blow and the monster died. The only thing left was the diamond. He rubbed the diamond in his hand and POOF! His parent appeared in front of him. For the rest of their lives, his parents never drove the car ever again.
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One stormy afternoon, Marcie and her father were playing indoors. Suddenly, Marcie’s dad mysteriously disappeared. Marcie practically turned the house upside down, just to find her dear, old dad. While she was searching, she found an old compass. Only, it wasn’t a normal compass. Instead of the compass pointing North, East, South or West, it had a bunch of unique symbols Marcie had never seen before. Next to the compass, there sat a note which said,
‘Dear Marcie,
This day will always come in life. To find me, you have to follow the map in the compass. However, if you can’t find me within 24 hours time, I will never have a chance to come back.
Miss you loads, Dad
Marcie read the letter carefully, then she looked at the compass again. On the corner of her eye, she spotted a sandy, yellow button. Like a normal person, she pressed it which allowed her to travel back in time.
Marcie stared at the landscape of pyramids and sand, and she soon realised that she was in the ancient times in Egypt. Slowly it all made sense, the sandy button, the map which was now covered in sand and she noticed a note inside saying, ‘Riddle me at the lion’s cave’
‘Hmmm..’ Marcie thought, ‘This is a clue.’
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My homework for 5/5 25. I only write an outline of my story
Sam’s life is changed today because his father is dead. But he finds out that his father is been killed by others. So is a criminal case. He told—the police. But no one believes him.
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Summary for Lesson 3
In today’s class we discussed characters and secrets, thinking about how giving your characters something to hide can create really interesting layers in a story. We looked at how to make our characters interesting and spoke about how when a character thinks or says one thing and does another, it can change our outlook on the entire plot. We then practiced inventing characters with a secret and wrote dialogue of them trying to conceal it. Finally the class worked on creating a story that revolved around a secret which they did brilliantly. Great creative work today everyone, very well done and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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Bob was a Japanese spy. It was world war 2 and Bob’s job was to spy on the Americans to find out what weapons they would use and how they would use them. However it was not as easy as he thought. He has a very strong Japanese accent so he had to hide that. He decided that he would act like a tramp and pretend to walk around the city listening to the news. All was going well, he reporting secretly to his country whilst acting like a tramp. Then one day he was reporting the news when he accidentally said it too loud and an adult overheard it. Bob knew that he had to go back to Japan or else he would die, so one silent night he crept to his hidden jet and zoomed away from America.,
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Layla was secretly an endangered kind of wolf, but there was a problem. Layla is starting college next week. Layla’s first option was to go there without any disguise or anything, but that would be an utter disaster. Layla thought of a few ideas but, they ALL had problems themselves. Layla’s heart was thumping like crazy, like a hurricane just hit her chest. As soon as she was about to run out of ideas, she heard a loud knock on the door. ‘Gulp, it must be the headmaster taking me early.’ A bead of cold sweat ran down her spine as she answered the door. But no matter what, Layla must remember one thing,
Nothing in the world can end, it’s only just the beginning.
But Layla knew she couldn’t end it, and she just had to find a way to keep her secret safe at her college in Los Angeles. And fast.
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Hi Beth!
Sorry for the late homework but this is from lesson 1,
Thanks for the lesson
Finish the story
Everyone, especially the workers, were shocked! They were staring at the wallet so hard, but not realising that it was FAKE. This young sassy girl on the street was paying fake money to the workers, they looked just like pounds! But they weren’t. the workers just asked for 9 pounds, but the spoiled girl payed her 500 fake pounds! every day and night this girl would repeat the same routine, she knew she was going to get in real gruesome trouble, but she still decided to do it.
On one specific day, this spoiled girl thought that she would buy more stuff than usual, she wanted to buy the magic rainbow pen where it can see which colour your thinking and it would write out whatever you think. This store is her absolute favourite store! she wanted to do this routine for her whole life…But today, this crashed her dreams, she was walking in the street and to the store, once she got to her favourite store, something unexpected happened…EVERYONE was shouting at her! even the polices! One police snatched the wallet from the girls hand and instantly threw it in the bin as fast as he could! Then, he locked her hands up with a handcuff and sent her to jail.
When she got there, one of the polices asked her address and whatever she could and has to explain, she could never ever lie about money ever again. And she was never trusted by no one…
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Hi Beth!
Sorry for the late response, this is from lesson 1,
Thank you for the lesson!
Finish the story
Everyone, especially the workers, were shocked! They were staring at the wallet so hard, but not realising that it was FAKE. This young sassy girl on the street was paying fake money to the workers, they looked just like pounds! But they weren’t. the workers just asked for 9 pounds, but the spoiled girl payed her 500 fake pounds! every day and night this girl would repeat the same routine, she knew she was going to get in real gruesome trouble, but she still decided to do it.
On one specific day, this spoiled girl thought that she would buy more stuff than usual, she wanted to buy the magic rainbow pen where it can see which colour your thinking and it would write out whatever you think. This store is her absolute favourite store! she wanted to do this routine for her whole life…But today, this crashed her dreams, she was walking in the street and to the store, once she got to her favourite store, something unexpected happened…EVERYONE was shouting at her! even the polices! One police snatched the wallet from the girls hand and instantly threw it in the bin as fast as he could! Then, he locked her hands up with a handcuff and sent her to jail.
When she got there, one of the polices asked her address and whatever she could and has to explain, she could never ever lie about money ever again. And she was never trusted by no one…
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Hi Beth sorry for the late homework,
This is from lesson 2,
Thank you!
The incident
David was in a place where the streets buzzed with life, every corner filled with voices, footsteps, and the constant hum of a crowd, it was Italy at its busiest time, the summer holidays. For some reason EVERYONE chose to go there! He instantly regretted coming.
Everyone was about half a metre far apart! Lot’s of people already died from not getting enough oxygen. David was absolutely freaked out! No way people can die like this! So he was being extra extra careful not to fall, and try to breathe properly, the city as already getting really stinky and smelly.
He quickly booked a hotel as quick as he could! He was really lucky, he literally bought the last room! The next day, he woke up at 8 am to get ready to eat breakfast, he eventually ate breakfast at 9am. He then decided to go to a theme park! The theme park was 10 minutes away by car from his hotel. He arrived at 10am, just in time for the theme park to open, his first ride was a tall bungee jump! He’s for sure a very brave man! Then he went on a high roller coaster that took him 2 hours to wait in line! Once he got on, something unexpected happened, the lap bars were not working! He shouted as loud as her can! But no matter how loud he was, he could never beat 200 people talking at the same time. The workers didn’t check and just started the ride, at the top of the first loop, David fell, the workers all called 911, but they didn’t realise he was already dead.
Overall, be careful when roller coasters are crowded, and care for your safety.
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Dear Beth,
Here is this week’s homework. I hope you have a great week and I hope you enjoy it!:)
Kind Regards,
Claire
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Hi Miss Beth Im a bit mis understand What you mean for the HW. But l still come up with some ideas and that my story
One day, a group of police officers came to a quiet house in a small town. An old woman lived there. Her name was Anna. She made tea for the police and smiled kindly.
The police said they were looking for someone. Anna stayed calm and asked questions like a normal person. She looked just like a kind, normal old woman.
But Anna had a secret.
Long ago, she was a soldier. A very strong and smart one. She had done many dangerous things. One day, she killed her husband.
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Summary for Lesson 4
In today’s class we thought about setting and how it can act as an emotional core in a story. We looked at ways of creating both familiar and unfamiliar setting and spoke about the different things it can communicate. The students came up with beautiful descriptions of settings they had created before workshopping these, adjusting them to fit characters and plotlines that moulded into the webs of the plot. Very good work everyone, you all wrote exquisitely today and worked together in your groups amazingly. Keep it up and see you next week 🙂
Homework
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